Place:Blaenhonddan, Glamorgan, Wales

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Blaenhonddan is a community (or civil parish) of the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, in south Wales. Before 1974 it was in the "historic" county of Glamorgan. Blaenhonddan was originally a township in the ancient parish of Cadoxton juxta Neath.

The community comprises Aberdulais (see below), Bryncoch and part of Cadoxton juxta Neath. The population of the community taken at the 2011 UK census was 12,151.

Aberdulais

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Aberdulais is a village in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, lying on the River Neath. The village grew around the Aberdulais Falls, the site of successive industries and now a hydro-electric station.

Aberdulais has been the heart of many businesses for a number of years. The first business there was a copper smelting industry; that failed because it received only sporadic copper delivered via boat from Cornwall. The site was then chosen again by an ironworks forge. This, too, failed, but not much is known, so nobody knows why. It was chosen twice to be the site for an ironworks. Between the works, Aberdulais was used as a corn watermill; that failed because it was too small scale, and the high price of corn at the time of the Corn Laws. It was then used as a tinplate site; that failed because tinplate was made redundant after the Bessemer Process.

Most of the ward consists of woodland and farmland with a small residential area to the far south. Cilfrew is another settlement in this part of Blaenhonddan.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Glamorgan Lots of leads to other sources and descriptions of former parishes.
• The FamilySearch Wiki on Glamorgan has recently been updated (early 2016) and looks remarkably like Wikipedia. Their map "Glamorgan Parish Map.jpg" enlarges to show all the original parishes. The sub-section "Parishes of Historic Glamorgan" lists all the parishes of Glamorgan and the newer preserved counties and principal areas in both English and Welsh. (Currently this website is still under construction.)

Maps

The first three maps are provided by A Vision of Britain through Time

• A map of 1832 showing larger towns and some villages (not as good as the England county maps in this series).
• Ordnance Survey map of Glamorgan illustrating the parishes, rural districts, urban districts and boroughs as revised to 1899.
• A 1930s Ordnance Survey map of Glamorgan illustrating the parishes, rural districts, urban districts and boroughs as revised to 1944.

These maps were found on Wikimedia Commons

• Glamorgan Administrative Map 1947 separating the various types of administrations with colour coding. These division were most likely in place until 1974.
• A map of Wales outlining the prinicipal areas of Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan
• A map of Wales outlining the prinicipal areas of West Glamorgan
• A map of the Vale of Glamorgan principal area with the western part of Cardiff included

These maps of Glamorgan post-1974 were found on another site and are very useful for sorting out the up-to-date geography of the area

• A map of West Glamorgan showing the two principal areas and the towns located in them.
• A map of South Glamorgan showing the two principal areas and the towns located in them.
• A map of Bridgend, Merthyr and Rhondda showing the three principal areas and the towns located in them. The description states that this is "formerly part of Mid Glamorgan".
• A map of Caerphilly, Blaenau and Torfean showing the three principal areas and the towns located in them.